Amateur Athletes Yearly Racing & Training Budget

Above: Just a small sampling of the shoes a runner will go through in a typical year.

Budget Your Athletic Expenses

Although I’ve been a cyclist for about 7 years, 2011 will be the beginning of my 4th race season. I started running about 3 years ago, when I decided I wanted to start competing in duathlons and a few half marathons.

Somewhere along the way I decided to look into possible sponsorship opportunities. I was born in 1963, so my racing age will be 48 years old for the 2011 race season. I wasn’t expecting much, at my advanced age, and not being an Olympic hopeful, but I figured nothing ventured is nothing gained and sent out a few sponsorship proposals. Read my article How to Find Sponsorship Opportunities for details on how to write a sponsorship proposal and find sponsorship opportunities.

Now that I have a few years of racing under my belt, I am realizing I am quite young. I’ve raced against girls in their late 60’s and men in their late 70’s, and they are still kicking butt! You are never too old to start racing. I think the fact that I participate in so many races, over 20 this year, and am a freelance writer with two sports related blogs, probably helps my chances of getting sponsored.

Above: Examples of a few personal care products used by athletes.

Yearly Athletic Budget

For 2011 I am looking into possibly getting a few monetary sponsorships. Right now my sponsorships are either in the form of free gear or a Pro Deal Discount on products. But I have quite a few expenses and would like to be able to compete in the USAT Duathlon National Championships which take place in Tucson, Arizona in 2011 and 2012. So I decided to come up with an athlete budget which I could include in my sponsorship proposal, to show potential sponsors where their $$ contributions are needed.

Lynn Smythe Yearly Athlete Budget

Race entry fees

Gas and vehicle expenses

Meals

Personal trainer and/or coaching fees

Club memberships

Books and Magazine subscriptions

Nutrition and hydration

Personal care products

Shoes and clothing

Bike equipment and maintenance

Airfare

Bike shipping

Hotels

Above: Two aero hydration systems by Profile Designs.

Break Down of Athlete’s Expenses

1. Race entry fees. I like to go over the previous years races, decide which ones I want to race in next year, drop the races I didn’t enjoy, and add a list of new races I’d like to participate in for the upcoming race season. Local 5k events aren’t too bad; around $25-$40 per race, but some of my bigger events, like the Miami Man half Ironman duathlon cost $280 or more to enter. My 2010 race entry fees came out to around $1,000.

2. Gas or vehicle expense. Might just be easier to figure out your total miles driving to and from your events and then figure on a per mile rate for gas and vehicle maintenance. In 2010 the IRS is allowing you to deduct 50 cents per mile as a business vehicle expenses. I’m not saying you can deduct 50 cents per mile on your tax return for all the driving to/from your events; I’m just trying to figure out a way to guesstimate your athletic related vehicle expenses for the year.